{"title":"The use of leaderboards in education: A systematic review of empirical evidence in higher education","authors":"Chunqi Li, Lishi Liang, Luke K. Fryer, Alex Shum","doi":"10.1111/jcal.13077","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Background</h3>\n \n <p>Leaderboards are among the most popular gamification elements in education. Some studies have implemented leaderboards and reported their individual effects on students' learning. Despite the emergence of relevant empirical studies, most of the existing reviews have only investigated the holistic impact of gamification. No previous systematic reviews were identified examining the individual use of leaderboards.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Objective</h3>\n \n <p>To address this gap, this review aims to systematically synthesise the existing empirical evidence concerning leaderboard use in education, examine their designs and effectiveness, and propose leaderboard design recommendations in gamified educational settings.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Method</h3>\n \n <p>This systematic review drew upon 20 articles (22 studies; 29 interventions) published from 2014 to 2023.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>The results found that using leaderboards can have a beneficial influence on students' learning motivation, engagement, and performance, but their effectiveness largely depends on their designs. Thus, this review examined the effectiveness of specific leaderboard design practices on students' learning and proposed four corresponding leaderboard design recommendations based on well-established educational and motivational theories as well as pertinent empirical studies.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Discussions and Conclusions</h3>\n \n <p>Notably, this review found that all included studies were undertaken in higher education and around half of them had short durations (less than or equal to 1 h). More longitudinal studies in other educational levels (e.g., primary and secondary schools) are thus called for to examine the validity and generalisability of the recommendations proposed.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":48071,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Computer Assisted Learning","volume":"40 6","pages":"3406-3442"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jcal.13077","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Computer Assisted Learning","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcal.13077","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Leaderboards are among the most popular gamification elements in education. Some studies have implemented leaderboards and reported their individual effects on students' learning. Despite the emergence of relevant empirical studies, most of the existing reviews have only investigated the holistic impact of gamification. No previous systematic reviews were identified examining the individual use of leaderboards.
Objective
To address this gap, this review aims to systematically synthesise the existing empirical evidence concerning leaderboard use in education, examine their designs and effectiveness, and propose leaderboard design recommendations in gamified educational settings.
Method
This systematic review drew upon 20 articles (22 studies; 29 interventions) published from 2014 to 2023.
Results
The results found that using leaderboards can have a beneficial influence on students' learning motivation, engagement, and performance, but their effectiveness largely depends on their designs. Thus, this review examined the effectiveness of specific leaderboard design practices on students' learning and proposed four corresponding leaderboard design recommendations based on well-established educational and motivational theories as well as pertinent empirical studies.
Discussions and Conclusions
Notably, this review found that all included studies were undertaken in higher education and around half of them had short durations (less than or equal to 1 h). More longitudinal studies in other educational levels (e.g., primary and secondary schools) are thus called for to examine the validity and generalisability of the recommendations proposed.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Computer Assisted Learning is an international peer-reviewed journal which covers the whole range of uses of information and communication technology to support learning and knowledge exchange. It aims to provide a medium for communication among researchers as well as a channel linking researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. JCAL is also a rich source of material for master and PhD students in areas such as educational psychology, the learning sciences, instructional technology, instructional design, collaborative learning, intelligent learning systems, learning analytics, open, distance and networked learning, and educational evaluation and assessment. This is the case for formal (e.g., schools), non-formal (e.g., workplace learning) and informal learning (e.g., museums and libraries) situations and environments. Volumes often include one Special Issue which these provides readers with a broad and in-depth perspective on a specific topic. First published in 1985, JCAL continues to have the aim of making the outcomes of contemporary research and experience accessible. During this period there have been major technological advances offering new opportunities and approaches in the use of a wide range of technologies to support learning and knowledge transfer more generally. There is currently much emphasis on the use of network functionality and the challenges its appropriate uses pose to teachers/tutors working with students locally and at a distance. JCAL welcomes: -Empirical reports, single studies or programmatic series of studies on the use of computers and information technologies in learning and assessment -Critical and original meta-reviews of literature on the use of computers for learning -Empirical studies on the design and development of innovative technology-based systems for learning -Conceptual articles on issues relating to the Aims and Scope